


A Moment of Peace (Steve is a Mystery Remix)

by Neverever



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon)
Genre: Denial, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22875091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever
Summary: Steve is in denial about having a migraine and the frenetic energy of the Tower isn't helping.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 171
Collections: 2020 Captain America/Iron Man Remix Exchange





	A Moment of Peace (Steve is a Mystery Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sadisticsparkle (sadisticsparkle)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadisticsparkle/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Mysterious Case of the Migraine Helper](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19061119) by [Sadisticsparkle (sadisticsparkle)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadisticsparkle/pseuds/Sadisticsparkle). 



> Written as a remix for 2020 Cap-IM Remix Exchange.
> 
> This is a remix of the wonderful and very sweet "Mysterious Case of the Migraine Helper" by Sadisticsparkle (thank you for sharing this delightful story). I hope that this remix is in the spirit of the original!

If Steve didn’t know better, he would think he was getting a headache. 

In the few minutes between opening his eyes and swinging his legs off the bed, Steve had an odd feeling that things weren’t quite right. He felt sleepy and lacking ambition to do anything.

The thing was that he had plans for a very productive day.

The night before, Steve had laid out and scheduled all he needed to do that day. First he’d update his files with information from the AIM fight the other day, complete a few reports and respond to Fury’s emails. He wanted to get in a big workout, and Natasha had suggested a training session with Clint. He would reorganize the art supplies. Then he had to do laundry, pay bills, and answer fan mail.

He planned to ask Tony to join him on his trip to Duane Reade. And if he did that, Tony would want to go to the electronics store as well. And if they did that, they could try that new sandwich place, grab a few beers, just the two of them hanging out.

Steve yawned and stretched. He thought dragging Tony out of the workshop for errands sounded like an excellent goal. If Steve adored anything (besides Tony), he adored having goals.

He would work through the woolly-headedness. He threw on sweatpants and his “Property of the Avengers Athletic Department” t-shirt Tony gave him for Christmas and felt a bit of dizziness. Maybe he’d skip the twenty mile run today.

A few minutes into writing up the AIM Laboratory fight, Steve winced at a twinge of pain in his right temple. He shook his head and soldiered on with the report. But, he just couldn’t seem to focus on writing up the usual details. 

It had been a straightforward fight. Local authorities had called the team in when they stumbled over a hidden AIM base. The Avengers had a sharp, quick fight with AIM to little result. Tony, Natasha and Sam had found nothing on the computers or in the labs. The only interesting part happened when a scientist threw powder at Steve as he stormed the base, turning his uniform pink from head to toe.

Only a well-timed drop of the shield saved Steve’s dignity. He “accidentally” crunched Clint’s phone before he could post to the Avengers official social media accounts.

Maybe Steve was getting jaded about these bread-and-butter Avengers missions if he couldn’t even focus long enough to write a decent, usable report.

A workout would help.

He headed down to the gym, passing by the living room where Clint and Scott were arguing over Shield of Honor. Again. 

“No, no, how can you fall off that cliff for the third time?” Clint snapped shrilly.

“It’s the controls, man.” Scott opened the controller and reached for a pack of batteries on the side table.

“You’ve gone through three sets of batteries already!”

Their voices wore on Steve’s nerves, worming their way into his throbbing brain. 

Then Thor arrived. “Friend Steve,” he boomed and thumped Steve on the back. “Good to see you this fine morning. Joining us for games?”

On any other day, Steve might have been tempted. But the flashing light of the large screen television, Thor’s larger-than-life voice, and Clint and Scott’s bickering brought on even more of a headache. “I’ve got a training session.”

“Ah, then later, no doubt.”

He went looking for Sam but found Hulk rearranging his glass animal collection. The whole scene of Hulk delicately moving each small item from shelf to shelf was both the most intense experience and entirely too stressful to watch. 

“Not here,” Hulk growled.

“Who?” Steve hadn’t asked for anyone.

“Tony. Datacrux.”

Tony would be too much of a distraction. Steve wanted to stick with his plans, and at least wring something productive out of the day. “I’ll go now.”

~~~~~

Steve had migraines before the serum -- debilitating ones where he longed to lie down in a dark room and not move for hours. But he had to work and put in the hours to pay his rent and get food. He had powered through as best he could, shepherding his meager strength and energy until the migraine passed.

After the serum Steve hadn’t had a headache that wasn’t from a fight. He’d certainly not had a migraine. 

All he needed was a low-energy training routine and his head would clear up. A basic training routine with Sam -- throw and catch the shield -- fit the bill. It was more for Sam than for him. He could throw and catch the shield in his sleep by now. He rescheduled the training with Natasha.

“Steve, are you okay?” Sam asked, as he landed and folded up his wings. “You don’t look like you’re feeling it today.” 

When he had headaches when he was a boy, his mother would put him in her bed and draw the curtains shut. She would brush back his hair and put a damp washcloth on his forehead. Didn’t make the headaches go away, but his mother tried hard to make things easier for him.

He hung the shield on the shield holster while he wrestled down a sudden wave of nausea. “Sam, I think I have to tap out for today. We can pick up the routine tomorrow.”

“Catch you later, Cap.” Sam spun off to practice aerial tricks.

Usually Steve could watch him fly around the training room all day. But the ceiling lights felt like a scalpel to his eyes. He had to leave.

~~~

Next, he ran across Natasha working in the datacrux. Steve paused before he walked closer -- all the screens were far, far too bright and it hurt to look at them for long.

“Sorry I’m not Tony,” she joked. Her fingers were flying over the keys as she studied and synthesized a mountain of data. Steve felt worn out compared to her fast and furious energy.

“I was -- okay, yes, I was looking for Tony.” He hadn’t been wrong about Tony having been in the datacrux, seeing tortilla chips and guacamole dip on the desk.

“Are you okay, Steve? You seem a little pale around the gills there.”

He couldn’t believe he had a migraine. “I should get something to eat. Where’s Tony?”

“Workshop? Suite? He didn’t say.”

So far, Steve had had to give up on each item on his plan. He wasn’t ready to give up on spending time with Tony. Even if he’d rather fight an army than leave the Tower. 

Maybe that wasn’t the best comparison, given the pain in his head. He wasn’t up for fighting an army, much less picking up toothpaste from Duane Reade.

~~~

Before Steve could ask, JARVIS directed him to Tony’s suite. He found Tony curled up on a couch with a laptop, listening to quiet music. No bright lights or noise for once that day. “Steve?”

The elevator ride had been grueling with the reflected lights, the whirring of gears echoing in his ears, the unsettled stomach and taste of blood in his mouth. “Hey, Tony,” Steve said listlessly.

“Steve, what’s wrong?” Tony asked. He jumped to his feet and hurried over to Steve. He placed a cool hand on Steve’s forehead. “You don’t look so great.”

Steve didn’t have a migraine. “I’m okay. Should get more rest.” His voice faltered as he realized Tony saw right through him.

“You sit down, right here on the couch,” Tony ordered. 

Steve didn’t have any fight left in him. He sat down on the couch like a box of rocks. Tony massaged his shoulders in that perfect way only his strong fingers could do. “You sure have a lot of tension in your shoulders,” Tony said.

“Couldn’t work out --”

“I don’t think that’s it.” 

“I don’t have a migraine, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what I’m thinking.” Tony worked his way up Steve’s neck and his temples. Steve sank back into Tony, his body cradled by his loving boyfriend’s arms. “You shouldn’t have one.”

“I have a healing factor, not the “regrow-another-limb” version,” Steve murmured as Tony continued to rub his temples. “I can get headaches.”

“Call me skeptical on that -- you got covered in mystery pink powder the other day. I’d chalk it up to that first.”

Steve didn’t want to move, lying here in Tony’s arms was all he wanted from the world. Tony kissed the side of his head. “Anyway, I know you. You’re pushing yourself too hard, again. Just let go.”

Steve drew a shaky breath, closed his eyes, and let all the tension go. Hardest thing he ever did. 

“A blow job could take the edge off,” Tony suggested. He ran his hand through Steve’s hair.

“Ah, I think I need to take a rain-check on that one.”

“Then you can lie down in my bed -- JARVIS can make the room blackout dark.”

Steve didn’t want that either. Sleeping in cool sheets in a dark dark room was the right solution. But he wanted to be held by Tony. 

“Steve, what do you want?” Tony encouraged him. “You can ask for anything, anything at all.”

He had a hard time asking for anything, at any time, even if it was from Tony, who loved him more than robots, but maybe a touch less than the armor. But by now, Steve was desperate for the comfort only Tony could give. “Could we stay here? Like this?”

Tony booped Steve’s nose. “Move this way.” He shifted so that he was sitting in the corner of the couch so Steve could lay his head down in Tony’s lap. Once Steve was comfortable, eyes firmly closed, Tony said, “JARVIS, cut the lights and music.”

With each breath, Steve’s headache eased. He mumbled, “I wanted to spend time with you today. Sorry. This isn’t what I planned.”

“Steve, baby, it’s okay, we have tomorrow. Shhh, just relax.”

Tony gently caressed his shoulder. The tension ebbed away until all Steve knew was the rhythm of Tony’s heartbeat and breathing. He couldn’t have moved even if he wanted to. He could have a little peace for now before the migraine went away and Steve jumped back into the fight. 

Peace, here in Tony’s arms, found nowhere else. And all his, alone.


End file.
